JOIN USIt was in April 2012 when five friends — Arun, Arjun, Balu, Pawan and one of their friends — met at Airlines Hotel and decided to start an independent, exclusive Karizma Bikers Club out of their passion for bikes and rides. And this was how the ‘Bengaluru Karizma Bikers Club’ was born.
Their main motive is to fulfill their love for riding and explore different places across the country. Oswald Ernest, the president of the club, says, “Our motive is simple, we ride out of passion and our freedom is to ride.” Explaining that, he adds, “Freedom for us is the bike and the rides. That moment when we go out into the nature, feel the air and forget everything is the best a biker can ask for. There is no end to our destination.”
Though a home for more than 50 to 70 riders actively participating in various rides Oswald likes to elaborately categorise the members into three groups.
He says, “This club is not just for riding but we also involve ourselves with the servicing of the bike and guiding people with various bike issues. I like to categorise the members into three groups. There are 342 members on our Facebook page, out of which almost 70 per cent are active in terms of commenting or putting up queries on the page while 143 members are on WhatsApp and 50 to 70 are the active participating members.”
When asked if there are any women riders, Sumanth, another member of the group, says, “There is one woman rider who rides a Karizma, but she is not exclusively associated with our club, she also rides with other biking clubs in the City.”
The club meets once every month, mostly on the first Sunday of the month. Explaining that, Dhruva says, “Since we are all working in different fields, we make sure that we meet on the first Sunday of every month. The meeting happens at the Airlines Hotel where we decide on our next destination. Mostly, it is every second Sunday of the month when we go for our rides.” The group avoids overnight rides keeping in mind the safety of everyone.
According to Yuvraj Jeeth, another active member of the group, they have been on 53 rides till now. He says, “In fact, there are many members from the club who are also individual achievers in this field. Mysuru, Horsley Hills, Vinukonda, Nandi Hills, Chota Ladakh, Lepakshi, Coorg, Madikeri, Goa, DD Hills, Hesaraghatta grasslands, Hassan, Kolar Farms, Skandagiri Hills and Chitradurga Fort are some of the places we have ridden to as a group.”
On whether they plan to ride to the less explored places like that of the North Eastern part of India, Nithin says, “We haven’t planned anything as a group yet but we are looking forward to seeing someone from the group exploring these places soon on solo rides.”
They don’t believe in racing and say that if one wants to race, there are tracks for it; roads are not the place to do such things. As for the safety measures that they keep in mind while hitting the road, Shivu says, “The first thing is no intoxication. Getting good sleep and energy are a must. The other important things starting from the head are full-faced helmets, riding jackets, gloves and riding boots. It is also important to check the brakes before one gets on the road.”
He adds, “Apart from that, riding slow in areas with patches of water, maintaining the speed decided by the group and also maintaining lane discipline are the major things that we keep in mind. In fact, as a group we have not crossed the speed of 90 till date. Though the bikes have the potential to do it, we stay in our limits.”
Talking of the challenges, Oswald says, “There are a lot of people on the road who tend to race or act troublesome as soon as they see a huge group of bikers. We want to tell them that not everyone with a powerful bike and riding gear are there for racing on the roads. It’s like when we enter a place we become the terrorists, as we are the ones with the fancy coloured bikes and outfits. They think we are a threat to them, however, we have no such intentions.”
He adds, “For safety purposes, we ask our riders to inform their families about where they are heading, provide emergency contacts and keep oneself prepared and not panic whatever it may be. We have all the tools and basic essentials ready and carry them along with us. One can find us on Facebook, catch us on Whatsapp, get in the group and ride with us,”says Oswald.
For details, contact 9880582964.